The Secret of the Stars
by The Love Hunter 13
Summary: Max lives a hard life. She lost her moth er to cancer. She has an abusive father. She's bullied at school. And her crush doesn't even know she exists. Her escape : Music. FAX. No wings. Iggy's not blind . Rated T for suicidal themes.
1. Everytime I Don't

**The Secret of the Stars**

**A Maximum Ride FanFiction**

**I own nothing.**

Chapter 1: Every time I don't

I sat on the low tree branch, my Alvarez guitar in my lap. My white sundress was wavering in the gentle breeze, my bare feet swinging slowly. The leaves created a sweet, soothing rhythm and I strummed along to it.

I stared out across the horizon. The sun was setting, painting the sky shades of orange and purple and pink. The notes I played on my guitar were carried off by the wind.

Then I began to sing.

_I bet this time of night you're still up._

_I bet you're tired from a long hard week._

_I bet you're sitting in your chair by the window_

_Looking out at the city._

_And I bet sometimes you wonder about me…_

_And I just wanna tell you,_

_It takes everything in me not to call you._

_And I wish I could run to you,_

_And I hope you know that_

_Every time I don't, I almost do, I almost do._

_I bet you think I either moved on or hate you_

'_Cause each time you reach out, there's no reply._

_I bet it never ever occurred to you_

_That I can't say hello to you and risk another goodbye._

_And I just wanna tell you,_

_It takes everything in me not to call you._

_And I wish I could run to you,_

_And I hope you know that_

_Every time I don't, I almost do, I almost do._

_Oh, oh, ooh_

_Oh, we made quite a mess, babe._

_It's probably better off this way._

_And I confess, baby,_

_In my dreams you're touching my face_

_And asking me if I wanna try again with you._

_And I almost do._

_And I just wanna tell you,_

_It takes everything in me not to call you._

_And I wish I could run to you,_

_And I hope you know that_

_Every time I don't, I almost do, I almost do._

_I bet this time of night you're still up._

_I bet you're tired from a long hard week._

_I bet you're sitting in your chair by the window_

_Looking out at the city._

_And I hope sometimes you wonder about me._

_Yeah, yeah. I know what you're thinking. "Why such a sad song to start with?"_

_Well, there's a long story about this guy I used to date and am still in love with. He was everything I wanted, everything I needed. I loved his long messy hair in its shade of black, the way it fell in his eyes.. Oh, his eyes. Those magnificent, beautiful deep black orbs that I seemed to get lost in constantly. It was as impossible as it is for me to breathe underwater, how deep I could look into those eyes that held so much emotion, but so little at the same time. But with him, nothing was impossible. He could make me dance on air and move mountains across the wide Pacific. The effect he had on me was crazy. His name? Nick Reid Warren. Or better known as Fang._

_Fang wasn't just my boyfriend; he was my best friend. He was the only one I could really talk to about everything. And he would listen. When things were great, he'd be happy for me. When things made a turn for the worst, he'd lend me his shoulder to cry on and whisper encouraging words in my ear. He'd fight my fears away and wipe away every last tear that streamed down my face. He's the one I could share my secrets with and I wouldn't have to worry that he'd tell anyone. And even when we fought, we always found ways of making up._

_But then his dad died. That's when he had to leave for San Francisco to live with his mom, since 16 was still too young for him to live alone. I cried myself to sleep every night for a month after that. I had just lost the one person on whom I knew I could depend. Like footprints in the sand when the tide gets high, he was gone. I thought I'd never see him again. He would call me every day for a while, but as time went on, the calls were less and less frequent until there were none at all. And I never answered a single one of those calls. Looking back on it, I wish more than anything that I had._

_The last two years were the most painful. Without him, I had no one to protect me from the bullies at school. No one to protect me from Jeb's abusive nature. No one to protect me from Dylan. I was alone, and I had no safe haven. Everywhere I went, they seemed to follow. The bullies would be at the park. Jeb would be at the coffee shop. Or Dylan would be in some alley when I decide to go for a stroll. I'm not sure what hurts worst, the other kids' words, Jeb's fists, or Dylan's sexual harassment, but without Fang it's impossible to make it all stop. There's no way to make the pain go away._

_So what did I do? I wrote a song about it. It's what I'm best at. It's my one way to get away from it all._

_My name's Maximum Ride, and my life sucks._

* * *

_I rushed through the doors of the school, trying to block out the whispers that I knew were about me. I could feel them staring. I put my hood up in an attempt block them out further, but I probably looked ridiculous wearing this jacket in the 90 degree weather. But how else was I going to hide the bruises that Jeb left on my arms this morning?_

_When I got to my locker, I stuffed my backpack in it and grabbed my physics book, a notebook, a folder, and my pencil. I closed the door to my locker and turned the lock, and I was about to walk to class when two arms strangled me in a hug._

"_Hey, Max," I winced from the pressure that was on my arms and tried to pry him off._

"_Hello, Iggy," I said, slightly painfully. Ever since Fang left, Iggy was the closest thing I had to a friend. But he was only ever around at school. I never see him anywhere else._

_He let go of me and leaned against the lockers casually. "What's with the jacket? It's like the Sahara Desert out there." I gave him a look that said 'You know.' He shook his head. "Again?" I just shrugged my shoulders. "I told you to call me the next time it happened."_

"_I know. I'm sorry, it's just…" My voice trailed off._

"_Look, Max," he said, putting his hands on my shoulders and giving me a worried look. "I gotta get to class. But seriously, the next time he hurts you, call me up. I'm always available when you need me." He hugged me, more gently this time, and then he walked off._

_I started towards my class, but I only made it two steps when something pushed me against the lockers. I drew in a breath and closed my eyes tight as my arm made forceful contact with the wall, and my books fell out of my hands and scattered across the ground. I opened my eyes to see a girl in a low-cut shirt and Buckle jeans walk away laughing. Glaring at her, I knelt down and started gathering all the papers that had fallen out of my folder. _

_I felt a hand on my back and I looked behind me to see Dylan. "Let me help you," he said, a mischievous look on his face._

"_Go away, Dylan. I don't need your help," I snarled, continuing to gather my papers._

_He laughed at me, "Oh look, she talks!" he exclaimed. That's when I elbowed him in the groin. He doubled over in pain. Growling at me, he raised his fist and I watched it come down. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to hit my face._

_But it never did. I opened my eyes and saw Dylan being pushed away by a boy dressed all in black. I couldn't tell who it was because his face was turned away from me. "She said go away," the boy said in a quiet yet intimidating voice._

"_This isn't over, Ride," Dylan said over the boy's shoulder. Then he stalked off, holding his crotch._

_I turned back to my books and stuffed the papers back in the folder. Grabbing my notebook and pencil, I noticed a pale hand giving me my textbook. "Uh, than-" I looked up at his face, and my mouth dropped. It was the boy that had just driven Dylan off. "Fang?"_

"_The name's Nick." That was all he said as I took my book from him. Then he left, as if he didn't even recognize me._

_As if he didn't even remember the best four months of my life._


	2. Lost Noise

Chapter 2: Lost Noise

"Max? Max…" I shook my head as I snapped out of my daze when I saw Iggy's hand in my face. "You alright there? You seem half asleep."

We were sitting at our lunch table. We're the only two. When I sat down at the table, everyone else got up and left. Iggy has other friends he could be sitting with, but he says he hates seeing me alone.

"Oh, um… Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just… thinking." About Fang. Does he remember me? Is there just too much space between us now? I don't know, but I do need to talk to him.

"Well you know Lost Noise's playing downtown tonight. You should come," Iggy said excitedly. Lost Noise was his band.

I thought for a minute. Really, what else am I going to do? Stay home where Jeb can beat me? "I'm in."

"Hey, Ig," an excited girl said, bouncing up to our table and pulling up a chair. She had a dark complexion and blond highlights in her black hair. Right behind her was a girl who looked kind of nervous. "Ella wants to ask you something."

"Hold on," Iggy said, then looking at me. "Max, this is Nudge. She plays violin in my band. And that's Ella, the lead guitarist."

Nudge reached out and shook my hand, saying, "It's nice to meet you, Max. Oh hey, you're that girl that I saw in the hallway. The one that got pushed into the lockers? OMG, I am so sorry. Are you alright? I would've come and helped, but I couldn't get through the crowd. But it looked like Nick took good care of you. Is he not just so hot? OMG, you two would be s-"

"NUDGE!" Iggy practically screamed. He had tried several times to shut her up already, but she never noticed. He knew that I didn't like to talk about Fang ever since he moved away, so he never brought him up. I guess he could tell I was tense when Nudge said his name, and he shut her up.

"Oops.." Nudge grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

I knew what she was going to say: We'd make a good couple. We did, and we probably could've been again if I hadn't screwed everything up.

Iggy turned to face Ella. "So, what'd you wanna ask me?"

Ella's cheeks flushed as she replied. "I was just wondering if, um… I could use your guitar tonight. You see, I broke a string while I was practicing yesterday and I haven't had a chance to replace it." She looked away, embarrassed. "Sorry. I-I understand if…" She didn't finish.

"Uh, yeah. No problem," Iggy said, making Ella's face light up.

"Really? Thank you!" She looked like she had just heard that she won a Grammy for the Best Up-and-Coming Band. The two girls walked away excitedly and I overheard Nudge saying something about how that was "totally not" what she was wanting to ask him.

"You'll want to be there early tonight. The park is supposed to be full. We'll start at seven, so if you come around six you'll be able to beat the worst traffic." Iggy said, pulling a sheet of paper out of his backpack. He drew a rough sketch of the park. "You should come around this side behind where the stage is set up and park over here near the church. You'll have less trouble getting out after the show."

"Alright. Well, I'll see you tonight then." I got up and headed to my biology class. I was five minutes early like always, but I wasn't the only in there for a change. Fang was in there. I didn't recall ever seeing him in class before, so he must've just moved here not too long ago. He was talking to the teacher, Mrs. Leach - a petite, young lady who was short in stature. I pretended he wasn't there, ignoring the part of me that really wanted to talk to him, and sat in my seat at the back of the class.

Not too long later, the bell rang, telling everyone to get to class. Soon, the room would be filled with chattering teenagers standing around waiting on Mrs. Leach to yell at them to sit down and be quiet. Luckily though, at the beginning of the year, I had privately requested to sit alone and so the seat next to me would remain empty. However, this was a large class and that desk was the only vacancy, which meant Fang would be sitting there.

Through class, while Mrs. Leach was going on about photosynthesis, I tuned her out and continued the lyrics I had started writing in second hour. I tried to pretend that Fang wasn't right beside me, just as he seemed to pretend I wasn't there, but it was nearly impossible not to notice the presence of the boy in black.

After all, I had loved him.

* * *

It was nearly six o'clock when I hopped into the driver's seat of my black P.T. Cruiser and headed toward the park. I took the route behind the stage that Iggy had shown me. As I passed, I could see where the audience would be sitting. It was set up to hold what looked like a thousand or so people, a few of whom had already taken their seats.

After parking over by the church, I walked up beside the stage where I was met by Nudge. "Hey, Max!" I waved at her as she ran up to me and thrust something into my hand. I flinched a little, surprised, but then examined it. "It's a front row ticket. Iggy insisted that you get the best seat right by the stage, so he saved this ticket for you. I'm so excited, though. This is the biggest crowd we've ever played for! 962 tickets were sold and I heard all over school that more people will be coming and buying tickets at the entrance! OMG, it's like we're rock stars! And did you see the size of those amps? They are crazy huge, and the sound they make… wow! I hope you like your music loud, because th-"

"Yo, Nudge!" Ella called from their trailer. "Come on! We gotta get ready!"

"Break a leg guys!" I said as Nudge ran over to Ella and I went to find my seat.

Iggy really did get me an awesome seat. I was front and center and I could see everything. And Nudge wasn't lying about the size of those amps. Luckily, loud is the only volume I know when it comes to music.

* * *

After a while, the place had filled up and the instrumentalists had walked out on stage. Iggy was carrying his red bass. Ella was beside him, carrying what I guessed was his blue electric guitar. Nudge came in with her violin and some boy I didn't know who must've been the drummer. A couple minutes later, after they were ready, Iggy stepped up to a mic and said, "Who's ready to rock tonight?" Then he backed away and they began playing an upbeat tune.

A female voice started singing from backstage, but I couldn't place a name with the voice.

_For those who don't know me,  
__I can get a bit crazy.  
__Have to get my way  
__24 hours a day,  
__Cause I'm hot like that._

_Every guy, everywhere  
__Just gives me mad attention_

The source of the voice finally walked out on stage and I immediately wished I was anywhere but here.

Because standing there in the shortest skirt and skimpiest shirt was Lissa. Her red hair was a teased mess and her face had too much make up even for being on stage.

I'm not sure if I was just seeing things, but I could've swore that even the band members looked like they wished they weren't associated with her.

_Like I'm under inspection  
I always gets a ten,'  
cause I'm built like that_

I go through guys like money  
flyin' out their hands  
They try to change me  
but they realize they can't  
And every tomorrow is a day I never plan  
If you're gonna be my man understand

I can't be tamed  
I can't be tamed  
I can't be blamed  
I can't, can't, I can't, can't be tamed  
I can't be changed  
I can't be tamed  
I can't be, can't, I can't be tamed

_If there was a question about my intentions,  
I'll tell ya  
I'm not here to sell ya  
Or tell you to go to hell  
(I'm not a brat like that)_

_I'm like a puzzle  
but all of my pieces are jagged  
If you can understand this,  
we can make some magic,  
I'm on like that_

_I wanna fly,  
__I wanna drive,  
I wanna go  
I wanna be a part of something I don't know  
And if you try to hold me back I might explode  
Baby, by now you should know_

_I can't be tamed  
I can't be tamed  
I can't be blamed  
I can't, can't, I can't, can't be tamed  
I can't be changed  
I can't be tamed  
I can't be, can't, I can't be tamed_

_Well I'm not a trick you play,  
I'm wired a different way  
I'm not a mistake,  
I'm not a fake,  
It's set in my DNA_

_Don't change me  
__Don't change me  
Don't change me  
Don't change me  
(I can't be tamed)_

_I wanna fly,  
I wanna drive,  
I wanna go  
I wanna be a part of something I don't know  
And if you try to hold me back I might explode  
Baby, by now you should know_

_I can't be tamed  
I can't be tamed  
I can't be blamed  
I can't, can't, I can't, can't be tamed  
I can't be changed  
I can't be tamed  
I can't be, can't, I can't be tamed_

The crowd around me cheered loudly and I was thinking really hard about just leaving when I heard Iggy's voice through the amps.

"How is everyone tonight?" Everyone screamed. "We are Lost Noise. Thank you for coming out." Ella started picking a slower song as he spoke. "Now as some of you may already know, our former lead singer Ryan got a record deal and is now a member of The West Wind. But what you may not know is we were able to find a new lead vocalist and he is here with us tonight. This next song is one of his originals. Everyone, please give it up for Nick Warren!"

The crowd exploded with noise as none other than Fang walked out on stage and up to the mic where Iggy had been. "Hey," he said, his voice a stage whisper. "So, it's nice to see all of you. This song is called "Hello World". I wrote it earlier this year. Last year, I was driving my motorcycle on busy road and someone pulled out in front of me. I turned the bike to avoiding hitting them, but rammed right into a tree. I received a concussion and I still can't remember life as a sixteen-year-old. But I realized that I was lucky enough to still be alive. This song is about how easily something can be taken from you, because I was so close to having life taken away from me. Don't ever take anything for granted."

As he said this, I realized two things. One) That was the most I have ever heard him talk.

_Traffic crawls, cell phone calls  
__Talk radio screams at me  
__Through my tinted windows I see  
__A little girl, rust red minivan  
__She's got chocolate on her face, got little hands  
And she waves at me, yeah, she smiles at me_

_Well, hello world, how you been?  
__Good to see you, my old friend  
__Sometimes I feel cold as steel  
__Broken like I'm never gonna heal  
I see a light, a little hope, and a little girl  
__Well, hello world_

_Every day I drive by  
__A little white church  
__It's got these little white crosses  
__Like angels in the yard  
__Maybe I should stop on in and say a prayer  
__Maybe talk to God like he is there  
Oh, I know He's there,  
__Yeah, I know He's there _

_Well, hello world, how you been?  
__Good to see you, my old friend  
__Sometimes I feel as cold as steel  
__And broken like I'm never gonna heal  
I see a light, a little grace, a little faith unfurl  
__Well, hello world_

_Sometimes I forget what living's for  
__And I heave my life through my front door  
__And I breathe in,  
__Oh, I'm home again  
__I see my wife, little boy, little girl  
__Hello world, hello world_

_All the empty disappears,  
__I remember why I'm here  
__Just surrender and believe,  
__I fall down on my knees  
__Oh, hello world, hello world_

_Hello world_

Two) He didn't remember being sixteen, so he didn't remember me, or us.

**A/N: Hey Readers! Just to clear things up, I hate Miley Cyrus but that's exactly why I used her song for Lissa.**

**I hope you enjoyed and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks! ****J**

**-LH**


End file.
